


Beyond the Glass Walls

by FandomFluid



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Destiel - Freeform, Human Experimentation, Inspired by Maximum Ride, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mentions of past child abuse, Mutual Pining, Rating May Change, Religious Castiel, Religious Discussion, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-05-07 04:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14663526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomFluid/pseuds/FandomFluid
Summary: In a research facility outside of Topeka live one hundred winged orphans and their caretakers. Every child there was born within the facility's sterile walls. All but the two newcomers, that is. Taken in at five and six months, Dean and Sam are different, but no one will tell the other children exactly why or how they even got there. The only thing Dean knows for sure is that one day, he and Sammy will break free.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based on an rp with the lovely galactic-anxiousness on tumblr. Check her out and send her some love!

It wasn’t uncommon to see new children in other glass rooms. New embryos grew to maturity all the time, who all became little babies. What was new to Castiel was seeing a child his own age without wings. The new boy was sleeping and had his own caretaker to carry him around, but his back was all flesh. The new boy was dressed strangely, too. He was sleeping in what looked like a soft, full body suit that covered his feet and zipped up the front. 

“Castiel, it’s late,” Gabriel said softly from where he stood on the floor. “Lights out was a long time ago. Come on, Michael’s gonna be pissed if he sees us awake.” 

“Gabriel, who are they?” Castiel asked, pointing to the new little boy and baby who were being carried through the huge building, towards the metal doors that lead to the medical examination rooms. 

“What are you talking about?” Gabriel asked, reluctantly moving to fly up next to his youngest brother to look for the people Castiel was talking about. 

“There. That little boy in the weird clothes.” Castiel said, pointing through the glass. 

“I don’t know, Cassie,” Gabriel said, pulling his little brother into his arms to rest his chin on top of his head. “They don’t have wings or anything. Who knows? Maybe we can ask Naomi tomorrow morning at lessons.” 

Castiel nodded and let Gabriel hold him while flying back down to the floor. The two of them quietly crept back over to where everyone else was sleeping and joined the nest of warm bodies and soft downy wings. Castiel kept snuggled up in Gabriel’s arms like he did every night. 

The next morning, when the lights all came back on, Castiel sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Everyone around him woke up the same way every morning. Hannah got up quietly, her dark hair all tangled and messy. Anna yawned and stretched out just enough to make her squeak. Raphael and Uriel got up with ease, ready for the day the moment they’d opened their eyes. Gabriel was awake, but still laying on the floor, reluctant to get up and moving. Michael had been the first to wake up and was already busy telling Balthazar to wake up. Balthazar was being stubborn again and would swat at Michael when the eldest of the siblings grabbed his wrists to forcefully haul him up into a sitting position. 

Within minutes, Naomi had arrived with eight bowls of oatmeal for breakfast. Upon their caretaker’s arrival, the siblings lined up in order of birth, standing quietly and patiently like a tiny regiment of tiny soldiers, each of them with their hands behind their backs. 

Castiel’s stomach was growling when Naomi finally got to him with the last bowl of oatmeal. 

“Good morning, Castiel.” She said with a small smile. 

“Good morning, Mama,” Castiel replied. 

“I’m not your mother, Castiel,” Naomi said, her smile fading. “Now, what do we say before eating?” 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.” Castiel recited. 

“Very good,” Naomi said, handing the boy his bowl of oatmeal and spoon. 

Castiel took the food and moved to sit down on the floor to eat with his siblings. He’d never liked plain oatmeal or oatmeal in general, but he knew better than to complain. Instead, he just shoveled the oatmeal into his mouth and tried to swallow it as fast as he could, so he didn’t have time to taste it or think about how much it reminded him of the one time he’d had the stomach flu. 

“Mama?” Castiel piped up after a bit, taking a break from the oatmeal. “Er, Ms. Naomi?” 

“Yes, Castiel?” Naomi asked, looking over at the youngest member of the family. 

“Who was the new boy who came last night?” Castiel asked. 

Naomi furrowed her brows in confusion and crouched down to get at eye-level with Castiel. “What are you talking about? What new boy?” 

“Last night, I couldn’t sleep, and I saw some other caretakers coming in with some new kids. One of them was a little baby and the other was a little boy who was wearing an odd red suit that covered his whole body and feet. Neither of them had wings, and the caretakers took them back to the medicine rooms.” Castiel explained to her. 

Naomi blinked a bit as she listened to him. 

“A little boy without wings?” Balthazar asked. “You’re crazy, Cassie.” 

“I saw him, too, though. He didn’t have wings at all.” Gabriel replied. 

“Look! There he is!” Castiel said, pointing out the glass wall of their little room when he saw the same little boy again. This time, however, the boy had tawny brown wings and was wearing the same white pants and the same white shirt that had a huge opening in the back for their wings, with a snap at the back of the collar.

“I thought you said he looked weird last night,” Balthazar said. 

“He did! Ms. Naomi, I’m not lying!” Castiel said, turning to Naomi. The last thing he wanted was to get punished for a sin he didn’t commit. 

“I believe you, Castiel. Now, if you finish your oatmeal before lessons start, I’ll go over and find out the boy’s name for you.” Naomi replied. 

Castiel nodded and went back to quietly inhaling the oatmeal. Once the bowl had been cleaned, he watched eagerly while Naomi got up to take their dishes away and find the new boy’s caretaker. The minutes it took her to return felt like eternities. 

“The new boy’s name is Dean. He’s four, almost five years old.” Naomi said to Castiel when she’d returned with the eight notebooks and pens the siblings all used for their lessons. 

“Just like me!” Castiel said with a happy smile. “Do you know the baby’s name?” 

“The baby’s name is Sam,” Naomi replied, handing Castiel his notebook and pen. “Now, let’s see if you can remember how to write the alphabet.” 

 

Castiel spent his days working on his lessons and trying to see if he could catch a glimpse of Dean. The newer boy was more elusive than he’d thought. At first, he often saw Dean kicking and struggling against his caretaker when he was taken back to the exam rooms. However, that quickly died out, and Dean would just go quietly and obediently. Soon, spring came around and the sun began to shine. After lunch, Naomi let them take an hour-long break from their lessons and lead them out to the large, domed courtyard so they could get exercise and play. 

The one thing Castiel didn’t like about playtime was that all his brothers were just enough years older than him to be uninterested in the way he liked to play, and he was still too little to play the games that they did. Anna was just old enough to join their six older brothers, so she tended to stick with them. That left Castiel to play with Hannah, who was only a couple years older than him. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Hannah, of course, he just didn’t want to play the things she did. He wanted to run around wildly like Gabriel and Balthazar, but Hannah was much more content quietly playing house. He didn’t much care for playing house, and he especially didn’t care for the old baby doll that he often found himself pretending was their child. The thing had tangled, messy blonde hair that stuck out in all directions and a wild, dangerous look in it’s painted eyes. Plus, it felt like its insides had been stuffed with beans, which wasn’t a texture he liked to think about at all. 

“She’s a little ugly,” Hannah would always agree. “But, she’s family. She’s got a pretty personality.” 

“She’s not my family. You’re my family. She’s a baby doll filled with beans.” Castiel said to Hannah as they sat out on the faux grass, shaking the baby doll up and down to hear the beans rattle like a maraca. 

“Hey, don’t shake the baby. That’s bad, I think.” A voice said from behind him. 

Castiel turned around to see the boy named Dean walking up behind him and sitting down on the ground next to him. “Hello, Dean.” 

“How do you know my name?” Dean asked curiously. 

“Mama told me,” Castiel replied, using the baby’s hand to point over to Naomi, who was chatting with Dean’s caretaker on a bench on another side of the courtyard. 

“Castiel…” Hannah scolded lightly. 

“Ms. Naomi told me.” Castiel corrected himself. 

“Why do you call your caretaker your Mama?” Dean asked. 

“Because she is. She’s our Mama.” Castiel replied easily. 

“No she isn’t,” Hannah said with a small frown. “If she hears you, you’ll get in trouble again. She’s not our Mama.” 

“Then who is?” Castiel asked, turning his attention back to Hannah. 

“I don’t know. Not Ms. Naomi, though.” Hannah shrugged. 

“Does she get mad if you call her ‘Mama?’” Dean asked curiously. 

“Yes. She doesn’t seem to like it at all. She said if I call her ‘Mama’ again, she’d spank me.” Castiel said with a small sigh. 

“Spankings suck,” Dean said sympathetically. 

“You’ve been spanked before?” 

“Oh, yeah. My caretaker spanks me when he says I’m being bad.” 

“That’s really scary.” 

“This baby’s scarier,” Dean said, gently taking the doll from Castiel’s hands to look over it. 

“Her name is Sunshine,” Castiel replied with a small smile. 

“Sunshine? Well, my name is Dean, and that’s my baby brother Sammy.” Dean said, pointing over to where Sam was sitting in the grass in front of their caretakers. 

“I know,” Castiel replied. 

“Oh, yeah. What was your name again?” 

“Castiel. I’m Castiel.” 

“Oh, hi.” Dean hummed. “Hey, have you ever kissed anyone before?” 

“What? I kiss my brothers and sisters goodnight every night.” Castiel replied honestly. “Why?” 

“No, that doesn’t kiss. I mean a for-real kiss.” Dean said, shaking his head. 

“They are real kisses,” Castiel said

“No, I mean like kissing a girl. Someone who’s not in your family.” 

“Oh. Uh, I don’t think so. I only kiss my siblings.” Castiel said. 

“Oh. Well, I’ve kissed a thousand girls.” Dean hummed, puffing his chest out a bit. “I’ve kissed five hundred thousand thousand girls!” 

“Really?” Castiel asked, leaning in a bit. 

“Uh huh! I’m the best at kissing in the world! They always tell me that.” Dean nodded. 

“The best in the world…” Castiel pondered that statistic for a bit. How lucky he was to be sitting with the best kisser in the world! Dean was probably famous!

“If you want, I could kiss you. Just so you can say you’ve done it before, I mean. Men should have experience!” Dean offered. 

“Oh, yes! I mean, please?” Castiel nodded eagerly. 

“Um, I think I’m going to see if Anna wants to play with Sunshine…” Hannah said, getting up from the ground to slip away from her younger brother and Dean. 

Castiel watched the other boy with wide eyes as Dean scooted a bit closer. 

“Okay, all you have to do is close your eyes,” Dean said. “I think you need to pucker up your lips. Kinda like a fish.” 

“Like this?” Castiel asked before closing his eyes and puckering his lips.

“Uh, yeah. I think so.” Dean replied. 

“I thought you said you kissed five hundred thousand thousand girls.” 

“I did! I mean, yeah, you’re doing it right.” Dean replied quickly. “Okay, and then the other person does this…” 

Castiel had no idea what Dean was talking about, but his mouth was getting tired. All of a sudden, he felt something warm, soft, and kind of wet press against his lips. He blinked his eyes open to see Dean’s face right against his own, the other boy’s eyes closed. From that close, he could see all the little freckles that peppered his cheeks and nose. 

“Castiel!” Naomi yelled from across the dome. In what seemed like an instant, Castiel felt her arms wrap around him, lifting him up off the ground and carrying him away. 

“What in God’s name do you think you were doing?” She asked, setting the boy down in a small lawn chair. 

Castiel looked up at her. He’d never seen Naomi that angry before, at least not at him. Over her shoulder, he could see all his siblings staring at him with looks of shock and awe or, in Michael’s case, disapproval.  He swallowed and looked back at Naomi. He’d only ever seen his brothers being punished for misbehaving, and that was the last thing he wanted to happen to him. In an instant, tears started to pour out of his eyes while words poured out his mouth. 

“D-Dean asked… asked me if I’d- if I’d kissed anyone.” He gasped out between sobs. “I-I said no and… and he said I should have ex- expee- expeeree…” 

“Experience.” Balthazar supplied from where he stood. 

“That.” Castiel nodded. “So, I-I said yes and… and he kissed me.” 

For one extremely long, painful second, the whole world seemed to have gone quiet. 

Naomi just sighed through her nose and held Castiel’s gaze. “Castiel, what have I taught you all about public displays of affection?” 

“They’re obscene.” Castiel recited. 

“And?” Naomi prompted. 

“And, they should be kept special between a man and his wife and that’s it.” 

“So, you clearly remember what I taught you. So, why did you let that boy steal your first kiss from you? Something like that is meant to be sacred, Castiel.” 

“I’m sorry!” Castiel said, his tears starting up again. “I didn’t think it counted with another boy.” 

“What part of ‘only between a man and his wife’ did you not understand, Castiel?” Naomi asked, her voice as smooth and even as ever. It was only when her voice was so calm, but her eyes were so angry when Castiel ever really got scared of his caretaker. 

“I-I’m sorry.” Castiel cried. “I’m sorry, Mama! I’ll never do it again, I swear!” 

Castiel wiped his tears away and looked up at Naomi when she didn’t reply. He quickly tried to remember what he’d said and only then did he realize his newest mistake. 

“Come here, Castiel,” Naomi said, lifting the boy up easily and holding him firmly in her arms. 

“No, please! Miss Naomi, I’m so sorry! Please, no!” Castiel sobbed as she carried him away. 

Naomi paid no attention to his pleas. Castiel saw her whisper something to Sam and Dean’s caretaker before she carried him out of the domed yard. 

In a few minutes, he was still crying, but now it was from the raw stinging of his backside. Naomi set him back in their little glass room, pushing his pencil and notebook back to him. 

“Get back to work, Castiel.” She said before turning on her heel, leaving the teary-eyed boy to watch her leave, his wings wrapping instinctively around himself. 


	2. Chapter 2

When evening came, Castiel ate his dinner with his siblings and followed them all in their single-file line to the baths. One by one, though in no particular order, Naomi took them all and gently stripped them down before helping to wash their bodies and hair and giving them clean clothes to change into. 

“So, Dean’s your new boyfriend, huh?” Gabriel asked with a small smile as he stood and waited next to Castiel. 

“No, he’s not,” Castiel replied with a small frown up at him. 

Gabriel laughed and ruffled his hair. “Really, Cassie? So, were you just kissing for fun, then?” 

“No!” Castiel replied, his face burning bright red. “It was just once! It’ll never happen again.” 

“Sure it won’t,” Gabriel said, laughing some more and scooping his baby brother up into his arms. “Hey, it’s your birthday tomorrow. That’ll be fun, huh? You’re gonna be a whole five years old.”

“I’m getting so old.” Castiel hummed as he rested his head on Gabriel’s shoulder. 

“Ah, to be four forever.” Gabriel chuckled, bouncing Castiel in his arms until Naomi called for him next. 

Castiel let Gabriel set him down on the floor and walked over to Naomi at the tub. He turned around to let the woman undo the snap at the back of his shirt collar that closed up the opening that was left for their wings. Once the shirt was lifted over his wings and his head, she helped him out of his pants. With that, he quietly stepped into the small tub filled with warm water. 

Naomi handed him a soapy rag to wash his front with while she washed his back and wings. 

“Miss Naomi? Are you still mad at me?” Castiel asked, looking back at the woman when she didn’t start her usual friendly chatter right away like she usually did. 

“No, I’m not still mad at you, Castiel.” She replied, taking a bit of bubbles and dotting them on the tip of his nose. “You’re a good boy. I know you won’t let anything like that happen again, isn’t that right?” 

“Never again.” Castiel agreed with a nod. 

“That’s my little angel.” She hummed, gently turning Castiel back around so she could rinse the soap from his back and wings. 

Once his body was cleaned, she washed his hair for him. Castiel had to fight the urge to fall asleep at the feeling of the woman’s fingers massaging his scalp as she worked the shampoo and then the conditioner into his hair. The massage was done all too quickly, and once the conditioner was rinsed out, he was helped out of the bath, where Michael wrapped him in a towel and helped him pat his body dry. He dried his hair with the towel and let his eldest brother help him into a fresh set of clothes. The shirt was maneuvered around his wings and snapped shut at the nape. 

He stood by Michael and waited patiently until the rest of his siblings had been washed and cleaned. Once everyone had gotten their baths, they all walked back to their glass room together to huddle up and get ready to go to sleep. As per usual, Castiel snuggled up next to Gabriel, letting his older brother wrap a sandy colored wing over him. 

“Nighty night, Cassie,” Gabriel said softly. 

“Goodnight, Gabriel,” Castiel replied with a yawn before tucking himself into his brother and falling asleep. 

 

Castiel woke up in the morning to the feeling of Hannah gently shaking his shoulder. 

“We need to get in line. Miss Naomi will be here soon.” She said, tugging him up to his feet. 

Still half asleep, Castiel stumbled into the line, taking his spot at the end. 

“Castiel, don’t rub your eyes, you’ll hurt them.” Michael scolded lightly from the other end of the line. 

“But I have the crusties,” Castiel said as he rubbed the sleep from the corners of his eyes. He was just finishing when Naomi came with their breakfast. There was only ten times a year when they got something other than oatmeal or cereal for breakfast. Eight of those ten were their birthdays, and the other two were Easter and Christmas. 

For his birthday, they were all getting big chocolate chip muffins with small bottles of apple juice. Castiel couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the big chocolatey muffins on the trays Naomi carried in for them, his mouth already watering. 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,” Castiel said when it was finally his turn to get his breakfast. 

“Happy birthday, Castiel,” Naomi replied, handing him the plate and bottle of juice. 

Castiel grinned up at her before moving to sit down with his siblings to eat. 

“Now, Cassie, if your stomach’s too little for all that, I’ll help you finish.” Gabriel hummed between bites of his own muffin. 

“Or you could give the rest to your cooler older brother,” Balthazar added. 

“I can eat it all. I’m big enough now.” Castiel asserted. 

“Oh, right.” Balthazar chuckled. “Sorry, I forget how big five-year-olds are.” 

“I am big!” Castiel said with a small frown. “I can eat all my muffin just like you!” 

“Alright. Show me, then.” Balthazar challenged. 

Castiel hardened his expression before setting back to work on his breakfast. He started to slow down after eating a little over half of the muffin. Still, he was determined to show his brothers that he was just as much of a man as they were. So, he pushed himself to keep eating until the muffin was gone, using the apple juice to wash it all down. It only took him a few minutes to regret the decision, though, since his stomach started to feel off soon after. 

“See? I can do it.” Castiel said to Balthazar before wrapping his arms around his stomach and bending forward with a groan. 

“Not without a killer stomach ache, apparently.” Balthazar chuckled. 

“Are you going to be alright?” Noami asked. 

“I think so.” Castiel nodded, still hunched over. 

“Don’t push yourself so hard, Castiel. You don’t need to listen to everything Balthazar says.” She hummed, crouching down to rub his small back. 

“It’s probably for the best that you don’t,” Michael said softly. 

Castiel took a few moments before finally getting up with Naomi. He took her hand and walked with her out of the glass room. He kept pace with her as she walked him back to the exam area behind a pair of swinging white doors. She paused long enough to drop off the trays on a stack of other trays. 

“Why don’t we start with the easy stuff to give you time to digest?” She suggested. 

“Okay. All that food made my tummy so big.” Castiel said, patting his belly. 

“You’re still as handsome as ever,” Naomi replied, pinching his cheek. With that, she scooped him up into her arms and carried him into an exam room. She set him down on the padded exam table and pushed a button on the wall to call in another person in a white coat that matched hers. 

The new person pulled on a pair of stretchy blue gloves. Castiel sat still and let the man undo the snap on the back of his shirt before he wiggled out of it. 

“Extend your left wing for me.” The man said. Castiel nodded and paused a bit to look at the back of his hands. When he determined which thumb and pointer finger made the L, he stretched the corresponding wing out for the man. 

The man quietly took out a tape measure and measured the stretched wing from base to tip, wrote something down on his clipboard, and then followed suit with the right wing. The man checked his heart and then his lungs, followed by his eyes, ears, the inside of his throat, and the reflex in his knee. 

“Alright, go ahead and hop down. I’ll get your height and weight, next.” The man instructed after helping Castiel back into his shirt. 

Castiel nodded and turned over onto his belly to slide off the exam table backward, moving slowly and cautiously until his feet touched the floor. He ran over to the measuring tape on the wall and stood up against it, pressing his heels and back against the wall. He watched the man level out his head before resting a stick on top of it, examining the measuring tape, and then jotting something down again. 

“Did I grow a lot?” Castiel asked curiously. 

“About an inch in the last year or so.” The man said. “You’ll probably hit a growth spurt soon.”

Castiel nodded and moved to go over to the scale and stood still on it. He held still until the man had written down his numbers. 

“Alright, let’s go to the other room for the endurance and flight tests.” The man hummed, gently resting a hand on Castiel’s shoulder and walking with him out of the room and down the hallway to another domed courtyard. This one, unlike the other, was equipped with wind machines and various other machines. Castiel didn’t entirely know what they did. All he knew was that they beeped and displayed seemingly random numbers. He hated the exercise they always made him do in that room. 

Nonetheless, he had to be a good boy, especially on his birthday. So, he ran when they told him to run for as long as he could. He took the breather they gave him, and then ascended to the air and flew with the wind machine blasting air at him for as long as he could before he got too tired and had to go back down to the ground. They made him sit on the ground with his legs straight out and reach down to touch his toes. They made him do as many push-ups as he could. He did his best on all the tests, hoping he met their expectations. 

“Did I do good Ma- Miss Naomi?” He asked as he laid back on the grass to rest. 

“Yes, you did. You met the benchmarks we needed you to. You’re a perfectly fit five-year-old boy.” Naomi replied as she looked over the papers before handing them to the doctor. “Now, we’ll just get a picture of you and you can go back to everyone again.” 

Castiel nodded and sat up before getting up from the faux grass on the ground. He took Naomi’s hand and let her lead him back inside to stand him against a blank white wall while the other man got a camera ready. On the count of three, he put on a big smile for the first picture. The next picture was of him with his wings open, and then they were done. 

“Miss Naomi, are we going to do more fun things for my birthday?” Castiel asked, holding Naomi’s hand as she walked him back to his siblings in the glass room. 

“Well, do you have anything you want to do today?” Naomi asked. 

“I want to play with everyone. Can I play with Dean again? Please?” 

“Dean is a bad influence. You can play with anyone but him. I don’t want him getting too close to you again.” Naomi replied with a small frown. 

“He’s not that bad. I’ll be good, I promise!” Castiel tried. 

“Castiel, the answer is no. That Dean boy is no good for you. Not as a friend, not as an acquaintance. You’ll lead a good and healthy life without him in it.” 

Castiel frowned in disappointment but just nodded. “Yes, Miss Naomi.” 

“That’s my little angel. If anything, you should spend more time playing with your brother Michael. He’d be a wonderful influence.” 

“Michael doesn’t like to play the things I do. And he thinks I’m too little to play with them.” Castiel replied. 

“Well, maybe if you ask politely, he’ll change his mind,” Naomi said, gently ushering the boy into the glass room once she’d unlocked the door. 

Castiel nodded and shuffled into the room with his siblings once again. He sat down on the floor next to Gabriel, letting his older brother ruffle his hair and tease him while holding him close. The next few hours until lunch were quiet and relaxed. As a rule, they didn’t do their schoolwork on birthdays or on Easter and Christmas. So, he just relaxed into the warm hold of his older brother. Gabriel wrapped one golden wing around his shoulders and smiled softly as he held his baby brother close, telling him all sorts of stories he’d made up off the top of his head. 

 

Every birthday passed by relatively the same way. Big breakfast, physical examinations, and then spending the rest of the day relaxing with his family. On his fifteenth birthday, he became the last of his family members to take his vow of purity, earning him a silver band with what Naomi explained were Enochian etchings along the outside that read, ‘I am my beloved’s.’ Each of his brothers wore the same ring on their fingers. Hannah and Anna both wore thinner silver bands that featured a small sideways cross cut into the metal. It had been decided that, once they were all at least twenty years old, Naomi would start making the arrangements to get them married to other men and women in other glass rooms. 

“Miss Naomi will work hard to find a good match for us all.” Michael would always say whenever Castiel expressed any sort of doubt in the idea. “It’ll work out, you’ll see. It’ll be like Isaac and Rebecca.” 

Castiel would always nod and try not to look over into Dean and Sam’s glass room when he imagined his wedding. Sometimes he caught himself wishing he’d been born female, so he might have a better chance with Dean. 

No matter how hard he tried, he always found himself sitting in that one spot on the floor of the glass room during individual Bible study and meditation. When he held his Bible in the air, he could look over the top and right into Dean and Sam’s glass room and watch the pair. Sometimes he would catch them in the middle of their own studies, and sometimes he’d find them just talking to each other. Either way, Dean was interesting to watch. He had the habit of talking with his hands when talking rather passionately about something. When he was supposed to be studying, Castiel would often see Dean look up from his work and gaze around at everything, tap the eraser of his pencil against the ground, or shake it in his hand, letting the thing bounce from finger to finger. 

He couldn’t see the fine details of Dean’s face that well, but thankfully the other boy was plenty expressive. He could always tell when Sam had said something that had annoyed him, or when he was fed up with something. Sometimes, Dean would run his fingers through his caramel hair, which never failed to make Castiel smile from behind the pages of his Bible. When he tried to remember the details of Deans face from the first and only close encounter he’d had with the other, it all came back as a blur, leaving him to his imagination. 

He liked to imagine that Dean’s eyes were bright and sparkly and just as expressive as the rest of his face. He loved imagining that his nose and cheekbones were spattered with freckles and that he had dimples that appeared whenever he smiled wide. Sometimes he found himself imagining the possibility of Dean having freckles along his shoulders and arm, but he always cut himself off there. Even if he couldn’t avoid daydreaming of another man, he had to avoid daydreaming of another man’s body. Any thoughts that could drive him to thoughts of sin were to be avoided at all costs. That included the thoughts of how broad the other’s shoulders were getting as he grew, how warm and soft his skin must be, and it definitely included all the areas of his body where his clothes were just a bit too tight. He really wished Dean’s caretaker would give him a new set of clothes that fit him properly to try and erase those thoughts from his head, but on the other hand, he hoped Dean stayed in those clothes for as long as humanly possible. 

“Miss Naomi?” He asked one day, hoping the Christmas season would put her in a good mood. “May I talk with Sam when we go to the dome today?” 

“Sam?” Naomi asked confusedly. 

“Dean’s younger brother. I won’t speak to Dean, I promise. Just Sam.” Castiel explained. 

“We’ll see. I don’t want the risk of that boy making contact with you at all.” Naomi replied. 

Castiel nodded as he got up to go out to the domed area with his siblings. They had long since shifted from calling it play-time to simply thinking of it as that one hour of the day they got out of the glass room. Now, they would stretch their limbs outside by walking around and chatting with each other. Sometimes Gabriel and Balthazar would play frisbee, which always devolved into a game of See How Hard We Can Chuck This Plastic Disc. It almost always hit some poor bystander. They almost always got in trouble for this, first by Naomi, then by Michael. 

When they got into the heated area of the dome, Castiel lingered by Naomi but gave her space when she went to talk with Dean and Sam’s caretaker for a bit. He busied himself by looking up at the glass dome to examine the snow and ice that had formed on top of it. It was odd to think about the weather that happened outside of that building they called home. He often wondered if Naomi lived there like they did and if there was nothing but emptiness outside the building. Whenever he asked, Naomi told him not to worry about it, because it wasn’t important. 

“Castiel,” Naomi said, calling him over to her again after a few moments. “Dean’s staying inside today because he’s being punished. You can go ahead and talk with Sam.” 

Castiel nodded and grinned at that. “Thank you, Miss Naomi,” he said before making his way over to the dark-haired preteen. 

Sam was sitting alone on a bench, reading a book and trying to blow his dark hair away from his eyes, though to no avail. Castiel walked over to him and sat down on the bench next to him. 

“Hello, Sam.” He said cordially. 

Sam jumped a bit and looked up at him, confused for a moment. “Oh, hi. Uh, Castiel, wasn’t it?” 

“Yes. How do you know my name?” Castiel asked curiously, not sure he’d ever properly met Sam. 

Sam blinked at the question. “Oh, uhm… I heard it once and I guess I just remembered. It’s a unique one, so it’s harder to forget, you know?” He said, only half lying. 

“Oh. That does make sense.” Castiel replied. “May I sit with you?” 

“Yeah, go ahead,” Sam replied, scooting over a bit. 

Castiel sat down on the bench next to the younger boy contently. “Where’s Dean today?” he asked curiously. 

“Oh, he got in trouble again, so he has to stay inside and work. It’s kinda his own fault, though. The worksheet wasn’t that hard, he’s just bad at school.” Sam said with a roll of his eyes. “He always complains about it taking too long, but it would go so much faster if he just did it for once.” 

Castiel smiled, deciding that was definitely something he could see Dean doing. “Balthazar gets like that sometimes, too.” 

“Which one of your siblings is Balthazar?” Sam asked curiously. 

“He’s that one,” Castiel replied, pointing over to where Balthazar and Gabriel were playing with a rubber ball they’d traded the frisbee out for. Castiel didn’t know what his older brother was trying to accomplish, but watched in silence with Sam as he threw the ball into the wall they were facing, only for it to bounce off and hit him square in the face. 

“He seems like that kind of person,” Sam said, breaking the silence. “What kind of studies does your caretaker have you guys doing?” 

“We mostly study the stories of the Bible now. Sometimes she’ll choose one particular story for us to read and think about, and then we have a discussion about it at night before dinner.” Castiel replied. 

“That sounds cool,” Sam said, setting his book aside and leaning forward a bit as he talked with Castiel. “Our caretaker says religion is silly, but I don’t know. I don’t know how he can expect us to make up our minds on it without letting us experience it for ourselves.” 

“If you want, I can bring my Bible tomorrow for you to look at it.” Castiel offered. 

Sam nodded at that and smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that a lot. Let’s do it.” 

Naomi didn’t seem displeased at all about the new situation. If anything, she seemed to happily endorse Castiel’s impromptu Bible study sessions with Dean’s more bookish, more agreeable younger brother. Just so long as Castiel stayed away from Dean, everything would be fine.  

So, the arrangement continued on as planned. For a couple years, Castiel spent an hour each afternoon with Sam. From time to time, Sam would vent to him about something Dean had done to annoy him. He always wanted to ask more, but he could never bring himself to. He just stuck to watching the other man through the glass and smiling behind the pages of the Holy Bible, quietly praying that God wouldn’t be upset about how much the other boy made his heart flutter. 

One night in November, he stirred awake. He had no idea what had woke him up. Maybe Balthazar had been talking in his sleep again. He sighed and turned over to look out the glass wall, wondering if he could see Sam and Dean. Perhaps they slept curled up together like he did with his family. When he looked over at their glass room, no one was inside and the door was open. He scrambled out of the pile of wings to crawl over to the glass wall of his own room, looking around wildly for any sign of the brothers. After a few moments, he saw two forms walking quietly through the maze of corridors between glass rooms. He pressed his hands to the wall of his and started to pat it to try and get their attention. 

Dean turned around and jumped at the sight of him watching them. Sam looked stressed. 

“What are you doing?” He mouthed, knowing they wouldn’t hear him through the thick glass. 

The brothers looked at each other and spoke for a bit before turning back to him. 

“Out.” Sam mouthed back, pointing to himself and Dean, and then one of the twin swinging doors that lead into the huge complex of glass rooms. 

Castiel blinked in awe. He had no idea why they would want to leave, or if there was even anything to find outside that complex. But, he did know that if they left and he stayed, his heart would ache every day for their loss. 

“Me too?” He mouthed. 

Sam paused at that and took a couple moments to talk with Dean. Dean looked annoyed. He huffed visibly and waved his hand. “Fine,” his mouth said. 

Castiel watched as Sam went to their door and somehow unlocked it without Naomi’s key. The door swung open and for a moment, Castiel couldn’t bring his legs to carry him out of it. 

“Alright, come on. Time’s wasting.” Dean huffed. 

Castiel quickly found himself and nodded. He grabbed his copy of the Holy Bible and quietly left the room, to let Sam close and lock the door behind him. He hugged the book tightly against his chest and took one look back at his family in the glass room. 

“God help me.” he murmured before jogging to catch up with the pair of brothers and follow them out of the complex, and then the building altogether. 


	3. Chapter 3

Castiel ran after Sam and Dean until they’d successfully exited the building and ran out into the cool night air. The air was so open and clear, and the pavement of the building’s sidewalk was hard against his bare feet. The night sky was so clear he could look up at the stars and moon, and straight through to Heaven. 

“Cas, come on,” Dean said before grabbing his wrist and tugging him along. “The sooner we get far away from here, the better.” 

“Where will we go?” Castiel asked jogging to keep up with Sam and Dean. 

“Somewhere we can get clothes that don’t look like we just broke out of a hospital,” Sam replied. “The more inconspicuous we can look, the better.” 

Castiel nodded and ran with the brothers until they finally took off the ground to take to the skies and try to find somewhere they could find proper clothing. It didn’t take Dean long to find a 24-Hour store. They landed down in front of the huge rectangular building and Castiel stared up at the huge yellow, glowing words on the front of the store. 

“What’s a Wal-Mart?” he asked, following the brothers dutifully. 

“A means to an end,” Dean replied. 

Castiel just nodded and followed them inside the huge building, watching as the doors slid open for them and they were greeted by shelves upon shelves with food, small toys, and clothes. He followed the brothers back to the men’s section, weaving through the shelves and avoiding the gaze of any workers who might not be too tired to care about them.

“What do we need?” Castiel asked once they’d found their destination. 

“Uh, shirts, pants, underwear. Probably socks and shoes would be good, too.” Dean replied. 

“Get some sort of jacket since it’s getting cold out,” Sam advised. 

Castiel nodded and moved to start grabbing the things he’d need. He grabbed a pair of dark jeans after holding them up to his body to gauge whether or not they’d fit. From there, he grabbed a T-shirt, a sweater, and a tan coat, followed by a pack of white socks and some heavy looking boots. 

“What do we do with all of this?” Castiel asked, finding Dean back by a rack of plaid flannel shirts. 

“Go back to the changing rooms and put them on. Make sure to ditch the packaging and tags.” Dean replied without looking up at him. 

Castiel looked down at the clothes. “Are we stealing them?” he asked after a moment. 

“Obviously,” Dean replied. “Now go get changed.” 

”We can’t do that. It’s sinful, Dean, we’ll go to Hell.” Castiel whispered. 

“Do you have the cash to buy them?” Dean challenged. “I didn’t think so. Get changed, worry about God or whatever later.” 

Castiel looked over to Sam, who was already walking into his own changing room. He felt his stomach drop as he realized he had no real choice. Who knew what would become of them if they were found after their escape. Likely nothing good. If Sam and Dean said it was a necessary evil for their own good, he couldn’t do anything but follow along. 

He swallowed as he shut the door to his own little changing room, locking himself in the tiny chamber. 

“Please only punish me for this. Don’t punish my siblings for my actions,” he whispered before steeling himself and systematically tearing the tags off his clothing and pulling them onto his body. The shirt and sweater were snug over his wings, but the coat was long enough to cover most of that up, leaving only the tips of his wings that dragged along the floor to show. He stuffed the extra underwear and socks into his pockets before pulling on the shoes. 

He’d never worn shoes or socks before, so the feeling was an odd one. His feet were rather warm all of a sudden, and he didn’t know what to make of it. He laced the boots and did his best make them tight on his feet. With that, he grabbed his Bible again and stepped out to find Sam already changed in his clothing and Dean still in a changing room. 

“What are we going to do now?” Castiel asked softly. 

“Well, Dean thinks there’s a lake with a bunch of cabins by it just outside the city. We’ll look for shelter there since no one’s gonna use them for a few months.” Sam explained. 

When Dean walked out of his changing room, Castiel swallowed thickly. It was just a T-shirt under a flannel shirt, and a heavy jacket with a lot of pockets and a pair of jeans, but there was something in the way it looked on Dean. Dean, evidently, caught him staring and put on a big, cocky grin. 

“Like what you see, Cas?” Dean asked. 

“You do look really good,” Castiel replied honestly. Just the way Dean’s green eyes glittered when he smiled was enough to give him heart palpitations. 

“Yeah? I like how you grabbed the biggest sweater known to man. You look like you could disappear inside that thing.” Dean replied, pinching the baggy sweater. 

“It’s very comfortable,” Castiel said. 

“Hey, can we head out? I want to make sure we find proper shelter within the next twelve hours.” Sam said with a small frown at his older brother. 

“Damn, okay.” Dean scoffed, moving to walk out of the store casually as if they’d done nothing wrong. 

Castiel held his breath as they walked out, waiting for some sort of punishment for what they’d done so far that night. However, nothing happened. No sensors went off, none of the workers even looked at them. They just walked out into the empty parking lot and found somewhere to hide while they shrugged off their new shirts to free their wings and get ready to fly again. 

Then, nothing happened as they flew. The weather was clear and calm. It was cold, yes, but it was nothing too serious. They could get warm in their shelter, put their shirts back on, and fall asleep. 

Castiel made the mistake of looking over at Dean as he flew a little way beside and ahead of him. The man’s skin in the moonlight was amazing. He could have stared at him for hours and hours, even if he couldn’t see more of his torso than his side and a little bit of his back. Still, Dean’s skin looked soft and warm. He was almost tempted to reach out to the other man just to make sure he was real. 

“There! Right down there, rich people lake houses.” Dean called after a little while, pointing down to a ring of houses surrounding a lake. 

Castiel followed Sam and Dean down to one of the larger looking houses, landing down on the ground. He pulled his shirts back on, shivering from the cold and followed the pair to the door where Sam was already working on picking the front lock. He looked around behind them and swallowed as the door swung open. 

“Bingo. I call the master bedroom.” Dean said as they let themselves into the warm, insulated house, shutting and locking the door behind them. 

“Why do you get the master?” Sam asked with a frown. 

“Because I’m the oldest, and I called dibs,” Dean replied, already moving around to explore the house.

There were three bedrooms, one for each of them to call their own, and one bathroom for them all to share. The main level consisted of the living room with a couch, coffee table, and some decks of cards, and the kitchen that included a small round dining table with four chairs around it. The cabinets in the kitchen were relatively empty, save for a few dishes and some canned food that would probably last for the rest of time. 

After they’d gotten acclimated to their new home, they all decided to call it a night. As promised, Dean took the largest room with the largest bed. Sam took one of his own, leaving Castiel with the last room along the little hallway next to the bathroom. The brothers had shut their doors for the night, leaving Castiel completely alone to wind down and try to get some sleep. Heaven only knew what the next day would bring, though it would likely have something to do with food. Man couldn’t live on canned green beans alone. 

Castiel shrugged off his boots, then his jacket, sweater, and shirt. He climbed onto the twin bed and let his wings dangle over the sides while he laid on his stomach. After deciding his jeans weren’t that comfortable to sleep in, he kicked those off, as well. While he tried to wind down for the night, he quietly prayed for forgiveness, not only from the heavens but from his family, whom he’d abandoned out of his own selfish lusts for a man he’d barely spoken to before that night. He’d consider looking through his Bible for guidance, but he knew he probably wouldn’t find much for his specific situation. 

After what felt like hours of just laying there in silence to fall asleep, to no avail, he realized he might not be having any luck because he wasn’t used to sleeping alone, let alone in a bed. He missed the warmth of his siblings surrounding him, all of then nestled in each other’s wings throughout the night. After a bit longer, he took a deep breath for courage and left the room to pad down the hall to the master bedroom. He knocked on the door hesitantly and waited outside. It took a few moments, but he soon heard rustling on the other side of the door until Dean finally opened the door, looking tired and annoyed. He was also very, very half-nude. Dean had apparently shucked off his clothes, save for his underwear, before going to bed. 

“What’s wrong, Cas?” Dean asked with a yawn. 

“I can’t sleep alone. I’m not used to any of this.” Castiel replied. 

Dean sighed and glanced at Sam’s door, then back at Castiel. “I guess it would be kinda weird for you to sleep with Sammy. Ugh, fine. If you steal the blankets, I’m kicking your ass out.” 

“Thank you,” Castiel replied, shuffling inside the room when Dean let him in. 

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just get to sleep.” Dean said, crawling into the bed and staying to one side to let Castiel have the other side. 

Castiel nodded and joined him in the bed. He curled up in the warm mattress, covering his half-nude body with the blankets and one of his wings. 

“Goodnight, Dean.” He said once they’d both gotten settled. 

“Goodnight, Cas,” Dean replied, facing away from him. 

No matter how much Castiel tried to focus on falling asleep, his mind kept racing, and it always wound up back on Dean. The warmth of the other man beside him, his scent on the bed, even the sound of Dean’s snoring. He turned a bit to look over at Dean and smiled warmly. Dean looked so peaceful and content when he was sleeping. 

Castiel froze up when Dean stirred and turned over in his sleep to face him, scared the other man might catch him staring. However, Dean’s eyes never opened up. Instead, the man curled up next to him, one of his arms moving subconsciously to grab him and snuggle him close.

With his face now pressed into Dean’s shoulder, Castiel felt his heart pounding in his chest. Still, though, he couldn’t stop smiling. He’d thought God would punish him for everything, however, he only seemed to be getting rewarded. The man he adored was holding him close in his arms. Even if Dean didn’t know he was doing it and even if he was probably dreaming of holding someone else, it didn’t stop the way his heart fluttered in his chest. He grinned and nuzzled his face into Dean’s shoulder. If that night was a gift from God, who was he to question it? He wrapped his arms and one wing around Dean in return and finally slipped out of consciousness next to him. 

Of the two of them, Castiel was the first one to wake up in the morning. He hummed as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and opened them up, only to find himself still wrapped up with Dean. His cheeks started to burn and he quickly scooted out of the bed, trying to squirm out of Dean’s arms. The last thing he wanted was for Dean to wake up and question him. 

“Cas?” Dean asked drowsily, blinking his eyes open to look at the man attempting to leave the bed. “Where’re you going, buddy?” 

Cas turned and looked back at Dean, silently cursing the way Dean rubbed the sleep from the corners of his eyes and looked at him with eyes that were still waking up. He couldn’t possibly leave the man when he looked at him like that. 

“I’m very naked. I wanted to get dressed.” Castiel replied, settling back into the bed and turning to look at Dean. 

“We’re both in our underwear. Let’s just slowly wake up for now.” Dean replied. “Jesus, this is so fuckin weird. I don’t think I’ve ever even talked to you until yesterday. Your caretaker wouldn’t let me within a hundred feet of you, or something.” 

“I think we spoke once, as children. Then, Miss Naomi decided you were a bad influence on me.” Castiel recalled. 

“Yeah? What’d we talk about?” Dean asked curiously. 

“I only remember the conversation vaguely. We must have been five or six years old at the time. Sam was still just an infant. I think you came over to me and started talking to me, asking things like if I’d ever kissed anyone before. I think I said I had kissed my siblings and caretaker, and I did every night before bed. You said you meant kissing like people kiss their girlfriends, on the mouth. I said ‘no’, and you asked if I wanted to. I agreed and then you kissed me on the mouth. Then I remember Miss Naomi getting very angry with me and taking me away to punish me. I remember that part clearly.” 

“Really? How’d she punish you? Just a slap on the wrist or something?” Dean asked. 

“Fifteen spankings to my bare backside.” 

Dean paused at that before his face shifted to disgust and anger. “Over two little kids kissing? That’s fucked. You shouldn’t hit a kid over something that small.” 

“She said you were going to lead me down a path of sin if she let it continue.”

Dean still didn’t seem pleased. “Did she ever hit you again after that?” 

“Once, yes. Once when I was sick, I kept calling her ‘Mama’ even after I’d been told a thousand times not to call her that. She spanked me then, too.” 

“I’m gonna find the bitch and skin her alive. That’s fucked up.” Dean huffed. 

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Castiel replied, pushing a bit of his hair from his forehead. 

“She makes you wear that ring, too? What even is that?” Dean asked. 

“Oh, that’s my purity ring. All my siblings have one of their own, too. I decided to take the pledge on my own, just like we all did.” Castiel replied. 

“Okay, but how much of an option did you really have?” Dean challenged. 

Castiel blinked and furrowed his brow at the question. “Pledging my purity until marriage was the best option, Dean.” 

“Maybe you think so, but did they ever actually give you the option not to? Or was it just a thing you were expected to do and you did it? Did they ever tell you about any alternatives?” 

“The alternative was adultery. I’m already sinful enough as it is, I don’t need to add adultery to my list of transgressions.” Castiel snapped. No one had ever questioned how he and his siblings had been raised before. All of a sudden, Dean seemed to have an issue with it. It was frustrating, feeling as if he had to defend himself and his family from the man he’d loved for years. 

“Sinful? What the fuck have you done? You’ve only ever been in one building for, like, twenty fucking years. What, did you kill someone?” Dean scoffed. 

“I’ve loved another man, Dean,” Castiel said with a frown. 

“You’re gay?” Dean asked after a moment. 

“No, it’s not like that. It’s only ever been one man. I was compromised over one person, not multiple.” Castiel replied. 

“Uh huh. So, can you look me in the eyes and tell me you’ve ever wanted to fuck a woman? Look me in the eyes and tell me whether or not you find them physically attractive at all.” Dean said, sitting up in the bed. 

Castiel caught himself glancing at Dean’s bare chest before looking up at his green eyes. He knew he couldn’t lie, especially not to Dean. “What I want is irrelevant. God’s plan is more important than what I want. If God wants me to take a wife and have children with her, then I’ll do it.” 

“How do you know what God wants?” Sam asked from the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. “Do you have direct access to Heaven?” 

“Miss Naomi told me. She’s never lead me wrong before, why would she steer me wrong over something like this?” Castiel replied. 

“Naomi hit you for calling her ‘Mama.’ I don’t think she’s the best authority on what God or Jesus or whoever think.” Dean said with a frown.  

“You know, they say being gay is mostly genetic. People who are gay are born gay. So, doesn’t it follow that God made you like that? If God loves all His children, why would He reject any of them for a feature He gave them? Isn’t God supposed to never make mistakes?” Sam continued, walking into the room and sitting at the foot of the bed. 

Castiel wrapped his wings around himself as he listened to the brothers talking and making valid points. 

“You’ve read the Bible cover to cover by this point. What’d Jesus ever say about gay people?” Sam asked. 

“He never said anything,” Castiel admitted softly. “He said more against rich people than he ever did about men who love other men.” 

“Exactly. So, why would Jesus or God ever have a problem with you being gay?” Sam asked, starting to smile at him. 

“I suppose it wouldn’t make sense if they did. Why would Miss Naomi tell me otherwise? Why would she lie to me like that?” Castiel sighed. 

“She had her own dumbass agenda,” Dean answered. “Look, Cas. Naomi isn’t a preacher or anything. She’s a scientist who works with the fucks who took our DNA, your DNA, all of our DNA and screwed with it. There’s nothing holy about that.” 

Castiel just listened and nodded in understanding, letting Sam reach over to rub his shoulder. 

“Come on. Let’s all get dressed and find somewhere we can get food. Cans of beans aren’t gonna last us more than a day.” Sam said after a bit. 

Castiel nodded and left the bed to get his clothes from his little room, looking down at the old, worn Bible he’d brought with. He quickly said a silent prayer for protection for his family, forgiveness of his own sins, and the hope that Sam and Dean were right in saying that there was nothing wrong with him. 

Once they were all ready, save for their shirts, they flew off again in search of somewhere that had food. The first place they stopped at was a little convenience store. Castiel pulled his shirt and sweater on, followed by his coat to hide his wings. With that, they walked into the little store together to try and look for food they could sustain themselves on. It was easier said than done in a place that primarily sold potato chips, candy, taquitos, and various drinks like soda, water, and Gatorade. 

“Dude, there is jack shit here.” Dean huffed after looking over the shelves, walking back over to Sam and Castiel. 

“Yeah, really. Would it kill them to put out apples or something, at least? I think the healthiest thing in this place is the water.” Sam agreed. 

“Oh, I meant like, they don’t have any sort of pie. Not even those little personal size ones.” Dean said. 

“You can’t have a pie for breakfast, Dean,” Sam said with a roll of his eyes. 

“They have muffins,” Castiel observed. 

“Yeah, but those are plugged up with sugar. You can get better muffins, Cas.” Sam said. 

“John?” A gruff sounding voice asked behind them. 

They turned around to see a middle-aged man with a salt and pepper beard and an old baseball cap staring at them. 

“Oh, sorry. You sounded exactly like a friend of mine.” The man said dismissively. 

“That’s okay. I guess I just have that kind of voice, huh?” Dean replied casually. 

“Yeah. You look almost exactly like he did a good twenty years ago, too.” The man said. 

Dean took a pause at that for a moment. “What’s your buddy’s last name?” 

Sam looked at his brother questioningly but said nothing. 

“Winchester, why?” The man replied. 

“My name is Dean Winchester, this is my brother Sammy, and our buddy Castiel. Fifteen years ago, Sammy and I were taken away from our parents.” 

The man stared at him in awe for a moment. “Holy shit. Come on, all three of you. We’re going to Lawrence.” 


End file.
